More Proof that Assisted Suicide Isn't About Terminal Illness
The Swiss prove the point oft made here, in testimony before government bodies, and in my articles on the subject, that assisted suicide isn't really about a "safety valve" for the dying for whom nothing can be done to alleviate suffering--the usual sound bite of domestic PAS advocates.
But Swiss suicide ideologues are much more candid about the ultimate destination toward which assisted suicide consciousness would lead us. They have asked a judge in Switzerland to approve their facilitating the suicides of depressed people who are not otherwise ill. Some are shocked by this, but shouldn't be. The Dutch have long permitted euthanasia for depressed people who are not otherwise ill.
Permitting near death on demand is the logical consequence of euthanasia ideology: The two weight-bearing pillars of euthanasia advocacy are an almost absolute notion of personal autonomy and the belief that killing is an acceptable answer to human suffering. This being so, in the end, what does terminal illness have to do with the so-called "right to die." Other than being a useful political argument; not a thing.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 10:16 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
If any of these activists with Compassion and Choices or Choicey Compassion or whatever they are calling themselves these days were faced with illness or depression, don't you think they'd fight through it and get back to living?
It is transparent that they love the idea of other people dying but none of them have taken their own lives.
Hmph.
I see it differently: They want what they want for themselves and they don't care who else gets hurt.
I think well people are lazy. And I think people who are drifting off into death are lonely. I read a really great story in the New York Times a while ago. It told of a group that had been begun by a social worker. The purpose of the group was to keep people company who were dying and had no one to visit them. The social worker organized some office workers to spend an hour a week with a patient assigned to them. One guy started out with a patient who was described as having only one month to live. The office worker enjoyed the visits and getting to know the patient, and, to make a long story short, they were still visiting a year and a half later. So much for death and dying. I think there are now two forces at work: One is the group of people who have actually participated with the doctors and nurses in hurrying someone's death. This group is anxious to draw more into their shady and dishonest world. A subgroup consists of those who believe they are soon approaching such a choice, so they are rationalizing in advance. The second large subgroup are the people who don't wish to exert themselves and check out the lonely disabled people in their communities. We have in the suburbs cut off the disabled people under the guise of "home health care." At any rate, we're dealing with lazy and guilty-feeling people who are rationalizing their actions. I wouldn't mind this euthanasia movement quite so much if it were honest. There are so many new problems for western civilization that are being created by this death culture. The largest problem is with kids. The euthanasia climate speaks loudly to our children to quit, to give up. Until now, western civilization has always tried to encourage living. So on the one hand, we fight teenage suicide and on the other we encourage it by showing kids adults who are tired, lonely, and giving up. What teenager doesn't feel that way from time to time? It's gotten so bad that we need to start a countermovement that is really loud to say, "It's okay to live! You're not a burden, and you're not taking up space greedily. It's okay. We want you here."
You wrote something quite profound, Marci, that "people who are drifting into death are lonely." Indeed. Because too often, they are abandoned by friends and made to feel as if they are no longer part of "us" but have become a "them." This isolation of the dying and disabled is a very serious social problem. And it wouldn't be hard to remedy if we would just love each other.
And you have nailed the mixed message that legalizing assisted suicide sends to the young.
Thanks for writing.
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